Sword Saint?

More Players began to enter the strange pocket dimension. Akiol spotted his whole Party and a few additional recognizable Players. There was also some new faces.

Xo nodded in satisfaction, "It seems you all solved my little puzzle in one way or another."

Flicking his wrist he notified, "If you would look at your left palm you should notice a small white orb."

Sure enough there was a small white orb in the majority of the Players hands. Save for Akiol who didn't have one. Xo glanced at Akiol's bewildered expression but continued, "Due to you all being of a special circumstance we will have to fine tune the Trials for you. This will take some time. Once your orb turns green you can consume it and be transported to the Trial. In the meantime we shall start with something to keep you occupied."

A player dressed in heavy armor grunted, "It better not be useless."

"I can assure you this might even be beneficial. Due to this one being the first to arrive I will have to ask you to assist me.", Xo said whilst looking at Akiol.

It seemed this was the reason why Akiol did not have an orb. With a slight nod he walked forward, "What do you need me to do?"

"A small demonstration, if you could enter the small chained area for me."

Akiol walked up to it and hopped over the chains. As his feet touched the inside the chains began to glow and a magic barrier arose. Xo informed, "For the majority of your Trials it will be testing not your strength, but fighting ability. Pure strength can only get you so far after all. We look for the talented and skilled fighters. Now inside this gated area a magic orb will shoot a projectile towards you."

As Xo finished his sentence a small orb appeared in the gated area and shot a small ball towards Akiol. This was easily dodged with a small movement. Akiol joked, "You guys really like orbs."

Xo nodded, "Very much so, in fact we like them so much that every time a projectile is formed twenty percent of another orb will gather. Meaning after five shots you will face two magic orbs."

"Does the new one also count towards the next one?"

"It seems like you catch on quick! The longer you last the more orbs will form. Keep in mind you cannot use your mana to block these. But your weapons can deflect them."

Akiol tested this and swung towards one orb, like he was told it bounced off his sword and hit the magic barrier. With a small glow the barrier made the orb shatter. Xo was pleased, "Excellent, now continue not getting hit."

Akiol dodged three more projectiles and another orb appeared. With the speed doubled another orb soon formed. Akiol continued to dodge the projectiles and soon enough several orbs took up the space.

Xo was pleased with the whole process, "Now we shall make things more interesting. When the projectiles hit something that is not your weapon, they shall bounce. However they shall only bounce three times, once they hit something the fourth time they shall explode as usual."

"What-?"

The orbs Akiol dodged began to bounce off the walls and floor. Most of them bounce at angles that weren't dangerous for him, but there was an occasional one he had to watch out for.

As more orbs continued to appear Akiol witnessed two projectiles hit each other. As they bounced off each other he gained an idea. Flicking his sword about he redirected some of the projectiles towards others, making them bounce away. After a few attempts Akiol noticed that this effected their bounce count.

Now there was enough orbs to make new ones appear almost instantly. In mere seconds the amount of projectiles was enough to overwhelm even top experts. As Akiol continued to dodge and deflect the projectiles a thought came to him. This strange experience was actually a prime opportunity for him to train his usage of {Absolute Territory}!

Sliding into the stance he felt the movement of every projectile. For a brief moment the sensation was overwhelming, but he quickly adjusted to it. One thing he immediately noticed was that the projectiles maintained their speed no matter what. With this he could survive even longer!

Akiol began to reduce unnecessary movements. Every projectile he deflected bounced into three others. Every one he dodged blocked another two from hitting him. Soon enough the projectiles became dense enough to where it became harder for the spectators to see his actions.

Everyone watched while being somewhat impressed. Even Xo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Murmuring he questioned, "A Second Stage reached this level?"

Akiol then stopped and was immediately pelted with several projectiles. Everything paused for a moment and all the magic orbs disappeared. Sheathing his sword he took a breath, "What a way to tire the mind."

Someone asked, "Why did you stop?"

"It would've been too much to keep track of. I was already pushing myself doing what I was."

"Impressive, as expected of the Sword Saint."

Akiol recognized the voice. Turning towards the source he saw the first Player who claimed to be their fan. A strange sparkle was in their eyes. Scratching his head Akiol mentioned, "I don't really like that name-"

"Sword Saint?", asked Xo.

The atmosphere turned weird for a moment. Akiol explained, "A title I've been given by the Semi-Immortals."

"Meaning it's grown popular enough. . . That is troubling."

"How so?"

"You're not the Sword Saint. If you gain enough popularity with the name you will naturally be gifted a Title with the name. If that happens, a Title clash will occur."

"Title clash?"